It looks like ignorance, but Clyde has a specific goal-it’s just not always Pac-Man. Clyde knows to chase Pac-Man, but backs off at close proximity. So the Japanese name “Feigned ignorance” is a good descriptor. That’s a wide circumference for Clyde to say “nope.” You can see how easy it is for Clyde to surrender the chase and head toward home. Outside the circle, he targets Pac-Man (the closer “T”). Inside the dotted circle, he targets the home square in the lower left corner. The image below from the Pac-Man Dossier shows Clyde’s pattern. He’ll only make the apparent correct choice if Pac-Man is on the direct path Clyde needs to “go home.” This is why Clyde often seems to make the wrong pursuit choices when Pac-Man comes near him. This is Clyde’s “home corner,” the area he goes when he’s in Scatter mode. When closer than eight spaces, Clyde targets the lower left corner of the maze. When he’s more than eight spaces (or “tiles”) away from Pac-Man, he targets Pac-Man just like Blinky. Inky is irritating and deserves more scorn than poor Clyde.Ĭlyde (Orange): My boy has two different strategies. He becomes harder to predict the farther away Blinky is from Pac-Man. The closer Blinky moves to Pac-Man, the more Inky follows Blinky’s pattern. He targets using both the direction Pac-Man is facing and the position of Blinky. Inky (Blue): Inky is the most mysterious ghost because his pattern isn’t easy to visualize in the midst of the fever of the game. He targets an area ahead of wherever Pac-Man is moving, which often creates a dangerous pincher move with Blinky. Pinky (Pink): “Head ‘em off at the pass!” That’s Pinky’s mantra. Everyone fears Blinky-and with good reason. His speed ramps up late in each maze and he stops going into Scatter mode, making him extra dangerous. This is why Blinky always seems to be riding down your tailpipe when you’re playing. He targets Pac-Man’s current position and goes straight toward it. They all start each maze at the same speed, and Blinky, the red ghost, speeds up later.īelow is a brief rundown on how the ghosts behave when in Chase Mode, highly simplified from Jamey Pittman’s exhaustive Pac-Man Dossier, which is worth reading for Pac-Man enthusiasts or anyone interested in programming.īlinky (Red): This ghost is the relentless pursuer. Nobody calls Inky “Bashful.”) The English name “Pokey” must be a translation hiccup, because Clyde isn’t slower than the other ghosts. (“Clyde” is listed as a nickname, but everyone calls the ghosts by their nicknames. Caution: I’m going to take a bit of a serious direction with this eventually.Ĭlyde’s Japanese name ( Otoboke ) translates as “feigned ignorance,” and since this is the name given to him by his creator, Toru Iwatani, it offers us a better insight into him-certainly more than “Pokey,” his official name in Midway’s US version. I know how his programming operates, but watching his behavior in the game has given me something to contemplate. Only recently have I started to grasp fully why I like Clyde the most of the four ghosts. If I buy a Pac-Man T-shirt (bound to happen one day) it’s gonna be a Clyde shirt. I’m going to dress up as Clyde for Halloween. Pac-Man -probably because Clyde was reluctant to show up a second time. Aka “Pokey.” The “random one.” The “stupid one.” No matter what nicknames he may attract, I adore Clyde and his twin sister Sue, who takes his place in Ms. Over those many years of playing Pac-Man and its sequels, I’ve given serious thought to Clyde, one of the four multi-colored ghosts in the original game. These are the only video games I can play that will cause people to come over to watch. Pac-Man remain my games of choice to this day, with Dig-Dug right behind. I thought it was the coolest thing ever invented, like a cartoon come to life with a joystick attached. I vividly recall the first time I saw a Pac-Man cabinet at Straw Hat Pizza in Malibu. I was four years old when Space Invaders landed, and seven when Pac-Man began its relentless quarter-munching campaign. I’m a Classic Era Gamer when it comes to video games.
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